Mar 18 2005
Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
Shall I compare thee to a summers day?
William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day ?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer’s lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature’s changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st,
Nor shall death brag thou wand’rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)
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great
This is an amazing poem. It\’s so romantic. He\’s comparing a woman to an endless summer. Even when she dies, she will still be alive because the poem gives her life. People are still reading this poem, although the person Shakespeare wrote this about is dead, so her memory is kept alive. I absolutely adore this poem.
Man this shit is hottttt ims funna use it in my nxt battle
WTF
it makes me cry..huhuhu[B]cry[/B]
i really thought this wasa a sgreat poem it reminds me o my lover jc
It is such an amazing poem. The women he is writing about must be pretty because it sounds like Shakespeare is in love with her. I just adore this poem. It is my favorite.
it\’s makes me tear up it\’s such a great poem shakespeare wrote it with love and ture thought no one could ever copy a masterpiece like this so i say that with ture thought
:eek :upset :cry :? :zzz :zzz
:sigh 
:roll 
:grin :zzz :zzz :zzz
nice poem, though it didn\’t make sense!! rock on old man!!
Actually he was talking about a male friend of his. It\’s beautiful and speaks so true of our opinion of those we love so hopelessly. One of his bests, I believe, and that is saying something. Its amazing how he says at the end that, through writing this poem, he will make the object of his affection imortal in words, though they will eventually perish in the real world.
i dont get it
actually we do not know who he was talking about. It could have been a male or female friend. We do not know, all that we do know is he wrote it from the heart.
(L)
i dont really have any words.
its just simply beautiful.
some of his best tbh
Shakespeare is a genius. This poem has a double meaning as it could have been written for a man or about a man. The perons is known as the Fair Lord…
Im 14 and i understand it… i would send it to my ALMOST boyfriend, if it wasnt for my \\\”friend\\\” i would be going out with him not her… OH WELL idk if i should send it to him… :?
Can someone help me my girlfrend broke up with me and i still love her and i thought that if i send her shakespeare poetry she would forgive me? every1 says this is so romantic but i dont understand this poem? :cry :upset
it means he loves a woman and he compares her to summer ( saying how hot she is) and he is trying to win her over with romantic words. ( the guy in the poem) I am pretty sure that is what it means. And im only 13. but i love poetry all the same! Everyone look up the poem Sarah. Then type in my name is sarah i am but 3.
Its so sad! it made me cry!
plss i wanna know why William Shakespeare wrote this poetry and what was the reason?
plzzz i need answer
:?
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This is my fav poem ever written by Shakespeare. He seems like the most interesting person; I wish I could\’ve met him. He is my fav poet ever and I love a lot of poets. I fervently hope that everyone whom reads his screenplays, sonnets, and poems enjoys them all!
:cry
To the person who\’s wondering what this poem means, Shakespeare is first comparing his lover to a summers day, and saying that he or she is even more beautiful than that (first two lines.) In lines three through 8, he says that natures beauty fades and changes and that it doesnt always last. In lines 9 and 10, he says that her beauty isn\’t like the beauty of nature because it will never fade. In lines 11 ans 12, he says that even death shall not take away her beauty because it is eternal and she will be beautiful forever. lines 13 and 14 he tells her that for as long as man lives everyone will see her unparalleled beauty. but hun, if you want to get your girlfriend back, dont say something you dont understand or mean. find something that you really connect with and that you know describes what you feel. be sincere. write a poem yourself, or if you still want something famous, try e. e. cummings. he has some interesting work.
WOW I\’m a 16 years old student and I feel great emotions from this speech O and I understand it by the way
Im 11 and i understand this this is truly the best poem of all times. IM sending this to me girl immediatly. This poem is so fll of joy it makes me want t cry.. :cry :cry
I FEEL LIKE THIS POEM SHOWS THE PASHON THAT THEIT IS IN LOVE.THIS IS ONE OF MY ALTIME FAVORIT POEMS…. :cry :cry
this is one of my favorite poems from Robert frost. He is also one of my favorite poets.
what are literature trem like figurative language simile , metaphor , personfication and alliteration are in this poem shall i compare thee to a summer day :cry
:sigh :?
I am [B]only 10[/B] and I completly understand this poem. A relitive is getting married, and i\’m sort of in charge of it and, I came up with a great idea, the groom will say a poem to the bride! So I searched the web for love poems, and I found this and I thought it was wonderful!
i don\’t really get it. :?
SAY THAT TO A PREP GIRL AND YOUR GARENTEED TO GET HER
this so awsome
:grin 
:roll :eek :upset :zzz :sigh :? :cry 
ITS SO BOOTYFUL :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry :cry
I have loved this poem for years, when I first read it when I was 10 it made me feel happy tho I didn’t understand it completely and now that I’m older (15) I cant help but feel the bliss as I truly realise how much love William Shakespeare must have felt for this person and I personally don’t see why it matters if the person he kept so close to his heart was a man or woman. It is unbelievably sweet how Shakespeare openly states that no matter what comes aging or death he will always keep this person in his heart forever. Now that is true loves words. Also I am personally touched by these words as they make me realise how lucky I am to have a special boy in my life.
i will send it to my gal
[U]null[/U] i love my girl and it is perfect for her
i nearly cried listening to it
i love this poem i think it a way to exspress yourself in true love my boy friend read it to me i was so happy :grin :grin :grin :grin
:zzz :zzz :zzz 
I love that it\’s about him!
Honestly, one cannot read this to whom they love.
This poem is completely personal. Practally a letter from one to another. That said, it is most likely the most powerful love poem every created, but not capable of being used by one person to another.
It\’s so powerful, it was meant for one person. And she still lives.
i love this poem. :cry :cry :cry :cry :roll :roll :roll :roll
:grin :grin :grin
:cry :grin
I LOVE IT
wow beautiful! :grin :upset :cry
:grin :eek :grin 
Shakeshpere hath written about man or women. I oft do percieve it as man. There are quote\’s in there upon which are written, him, and men. Tis be it so he may be talking about that of a Love that is unbreakable until the passing of his life. He is in a passion flowing like a river of Love for this person. He compares thee to a summer\’s day because…Summer is when everything has bloomed. When everytrhing start\’s living the plants, the trees, the sun starts shinning, the wind starts blowing upon the meadow beds, when the stars are shown the best at night, when everything comes out and feels alive, when you life\’s beauty at it\’s fullest.
i love this poem so much it makes me think of how me and this one guy used to date and he would quote Shakespeare to me cause he knew i loved poetry. i want to be a writer when i grow up and i want to write poetry also. i suggest to all the guys that they quote Shakespeare to their girlfriends cause it will make them glow and love you even more.
all of you are saying you understand this poem, but do you really? i learned about it and studied it, and just to let everybody know, he is not talking about a man or a woman, he is talking about poetry. He is saying how beautiful poetry is in general. \”When in eternal lines to time thou grow\’st;\” when he states this line, he is saying that he is talking about poetry. And that it\’s beauty will NEVER die.
im doing a resurch paper on poets and im going with this one beacause it was a really good one and i wish i met this person.
Sonnet 18, often alternately titled Shall I compare thee to a summer\’s day?, is one of the best-known of 154 sonnets written by the English playwright and poet William Shakespeare. Part of the Fair Youth sequence (which comprises sonnets 1-126 in the accepted numbering stemming from the first edition in 1609), it is the first of the cycle after the opening sequence now described as the Procreation sonnets. Most scholars now agree that the original subject of the poem, the beloved to whom the poet is writing, is a male, though the poem is commonly used to describe a woman.
In the sonnet, the poet compares his beloved to the summer season, and argues that his beloved is better. The poet also states that his beloved will live on forever through the words of the poem. Scholars have found parallels within the poem to Ovid\’s Tristia and Amores, both of which have love themes. Sonnet 18 is written in the typical Shakespearean sonnet form, having 14 lines of iambic pentameter ending in a rhymed couplet. Detailed exegeses have revealed several double meanings within the poem, giving it a greater depth of interpretation.
tho` he wrote this to his own sex (male) i think it was pretty good. love william
i really like it. i can really relate.
this poem is truely beautiful! i would have cried if my boyfriend read it to me! but it be happy crying! this poem means that he is comparing his true love to a summer\’s day but she is more beautiful than that and that she is worth more than a summer\’s day. that\’s wat it means but wat do i know. i\’m only 14 years!!
if u love someone, cherish her or him always!
ey…dis poem is jst 2 romantic it says evrythang a person wats 2 knw!!! dis poem is mostly about wat he fils 4 da gal/boy hez.the apprence (beauty)maks hinm fall inlove all over again..THIS POEM is one of a kind!!!!!
i really dont understand this
i ador shackspear he is the best i hav ever heared i would love for him to be a live still.And i am onley 12
Aww.. Beautiful! i Love Shakespeare! :cry
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i read this to my girlfriend for our 1 week anniversary
im 16